Intertwined Destinies I R
by The Loyal Baphodevi
Summary: When Daniel and Samantha found themselves in Traverse Town, many new and confusing experiences were ready to lead them down a road of questions they never new they had; one of them being why everyone seemed to want to pick on this boy with a key.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

I just wanted to make a short comment on how this is a remake of a fanfiction I started on over eight years ago. I would much prefer if you didn't go and read the original. The only thing I can say about it is that I'm surprised by my sense of humor back then. This new version of the fanfiction has a more serious tone to it, but I hope not to have too much retconned from the original version. Thank you and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

When expecting death, it might not come as a surprise that pain would be involved. Usually, it is hoped that the pain would disappear quickly, though. This was not the case for Daniel. His whole body felt like it was on fire as he writhed about. He would have screamed, but it would have taken too much effort. A bright light appeared, barely being noticed by Dan, with his eyes shut tight. The light died down and the pain finally decided to go away. 

The boy became still. Surely he was dead. His whole life didn't pass by in his mind, but he never really believed in that myth anyway. He waited patiently for about a minute, but nothing happened. He then figured it wouldn't hurt to open his eyes. 

A night sky filled to the brim with twinkling stars revealed itself to the boy. He was momentarily mesmerized by the stars, never being able to see such a sight due to light pollution, until he noticed a hand reaching out for them. It was his hand. Going from complete pain to none made him feel like his body was completely gone. Before he could be excited about still having a body, something landed on it to remind him that his pain receptors still worked. 

"Dan, you're okay!" The blonde head of a girl appeared in his view. 

"Sam?" His sister continued to hug him tightly. "What happened?" 

"I thought you were – I thought..." Tears were forming around her eyes. Dan pushed himself up, Sam being forced to rise with him. They were in an alleyway surrounded by stone buildings with wooden trimming. This didn't seem right, though. He didn't recognize this place nor remember how they got there. He wracked his brain, trying to remember what the last thing they were doing was. 

"Weren't we falling?" He blurted out. 

Sam lowered her eyebrows in confusion. "Falling?" 

Dan then remembered more. "That's right! That big earthquake happened and we fell down a chasm!" 

Sam let go of him and stood up. Her concentrated look made Dan think she was also try8ing to remember the events. "But how did we end up here?"

Dan stood up while patting dust off of his shorts and replied, "Beats me. The last thing I remember is, well, yeah..." He trailed off, not wanting to speak about his experience.

"Uh, well, I guess we should figure out where we are, then," Sam said, trying to change the subject. "This place doesn't really look familiar." She frowned as she looked around the alley. The architecture was pretty bizarre. It was as if they were somehow teleported into a different culture or era.

The two walked out of the alley to find themselves in what must have been the business district of the city. A courtyard laid in front of them with a few people walking around in it. An outdoor café was to the right of the courtyard while two massive doors were to the left and across from them. The building right next to them, with a large, glowing sign that read "jewelry" easily grabbed Sam's attention. "I know where we're going first." Dan simply sighed as he was dragged into the building.

"Hey there, how can I- "The shopkeeper stopped his sales pitch when he noticed how old the two were. "Aw, not more kids."

"Excuse me, I am plenty old enough to be considered an adult," Sam quickly took offense to the man's remark.

Dan shook his head. "Eighteen is still pretty young, you know. Besides, we don't know if..." He stopped as he actually took a good look at the shopkeeper. His blonde hair and gruff face looked very familiar.

Sam continued on with her tirade. "It shouldn't even matter my age, I came here to shop, and as a customer, you shouldn't be trying to insult me." She had a tendency to not like being called a kid.

"All right, all right. Just holler if you need anything, "the man waved her off.

While still perturbed, Sam decided to let him off easy and started to browse the jewelry collection. Dan continued to stay glued to his spot, starring at the shopkeeper. "What kind of a selection is this? Don't you have any earrings or at least some necklaces?" She only found some chains that looked too big to use for anything and a few rings.

"Hey now, earrings cost quite a bit to make," the man retorted. "I'm lucky enough to have what I've got. And until that stupid moogle workshop up there finds more materials, don't expect anything fancy." Sam followed the shopkeeper's gaze up to a trap door on the ceiling with a ladder lying across it. She suddenly had a dreadful feeling that she had come upon a child labor shop.

Before she could ask about the workshop, Dan muttered out, "Cid?" After hearing the word "moogle," he couldn't ignore how the shopkeeper looked like a certain Final Fantasy character. The white shirt, broad, blue pants and brightly colored, tall belt wasn't the usual getup he'd normally wear, but everything else about him seemed right. The piece of straw in his mouth instead of a cigarette made Dan question if this was a smoke-free environment.

Sam looked on curiously as Cid answered, "Yeah?" He waited for a moment, expecting a reply, but he didn't get one. "Do I know you?"

Dan's expression didn't change as he looked down to the ground. "No, sorry, you just look like a Cid."

Cid grunted while rubbing the stubble on his chin. "Yeah, I guess I do."

The entrance to the shop swung open quickly and then slammed shut, causing the three to look over at a boy bracing himself against the door. He looked like he could belong in a circus with his attire. Unordinary large, yellow shoes adorned his feet, which matched well with what initially looked like red shorts, but was actually an onesie that went all the way up to his neck. A white jacket with blue trimming was worn on top and matching, fingerless gloves were on his hands. A seemingly useless, blue belt was wrapped around his waist. Sam ended up staring at the impossible brunette spikes that made the boy's hair. They went in several directions and must have been a paint to gel, if that is even how they got that way

"The – the Heartless are attacking!" the boy shouted. Dan looked at him in concern while Sam's eyes went wide.

Cid, on the other hand, waved the boy off, sighing, "Not again. Just wait a bit and they'll eventually leave the district." The boy didn't seem to believe that, but after looking out one of the small windows on the doors, he calmed down and said they were gone.

The room seemed to become more relaxed as the group settled down, but Dan felt he was missing a pretty important piece of information here. "What are the Heartless?"

The room was silent. Sam kept her head down in thought, and Cid seemed confused by the question but couldn't quite think of where to start. Sora looked completely perplexed by the siblings' appearance, having just noticed them. "What do you mean?" Sora asked. "Didn't the Heartless show up on your world? How else did you get here?"

World? Were they on a different planet? He didn't even answer Dan's question, but instead brought up even more questions. "We're not sure how we got here," Sam answered. "We just kind of showed up."

"So I take it that means those two aren't your friends," Cid said disappointingly.

The boy shook his head. "No, definitely not."

"Wow, harsh, man," Dan folded his arms to his chest. If the guy wouldn't answer his question, then he might as well toy with him.

"What? That's not what I meant – I don't even know you!" It seemed to rile the boy up in a fit of confusion.

Dan smirked at his success before getting punched in the shoulder by his sister. "Ignore him; he's just trying to be funny." She headed to the doors, passing the boy, and looked out the window. She didn't see anything; the small crowd that was in the courtyard was gone. "No one's out there," she muttered. Facing the boy, she introduced herself. "Oh, my name's Samantha. The doofus over there is Daniel." Dan grunted in annoyance at his introduction.

"The name's Sora," the boy said confidently.

Sam nodded her head at him. "Okay Sora, well we're going to head out now." She dropped her cheerful attire and added, "The jewelry here stinks anyway."

"I heard that!" Cid shouted. "You should probably go too, kid," he said to Sora. "You're bound to find your friends somewhere."  
The three left together. Dan was pretty happy to finally be out of that store, but as soon as the doors were closed behind them, he turned to Sora and once again asked, "So what are Heartless?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. "Uh, well I'm not really sure myself." The disappointment on Dan's face was a bit too obvious. "The creatures showed up on my island before I got here, and the only way I could defend myself was with this." Raising his right hand up, a bright light flashed and a giant key with a guard around the base appeared.

"What!" Sam gasped at the sight of the weapon. Dan looked dumbfounded, both at the reveal of the weapon and its appearance.

"Umm, a giant key?"

"Hey, it's a pretty good weapon!" Sora defended himself.

"Sure, I bet you can easily unlock people's death with that." Dan chuckled.

Sora was trying to come up with a retort, but someone behind him spoke up. "They'll come at you out of nowhere."

Sora whirled around and the three saw a figure walk up to them. "Who are you?"

The figure ignored him and continued. "And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." Stepping into the light, the figure revealed himself to be a man wearing a leather jacket with a white undershirt, leather pants and matching leather gloves. The spiked down, brunette hair and plenty of belts once again reminded Dan of a Final Fantasy character. The man held his hand to his forehead, right above a scar that went down the middle of his face. "But why, why would it choose a kid like you?" He definitely didn't seem happy about the predicament.

Sora took that question very personally. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind," the man reached out his arm and moved slowly toward him. "Now let's see that Keyblade."

Sora readied himself for a fight. "What? There's no way you're getting this!"

The man smirked. "All right then, have it your way." He took out a blade with a hilt that looked like a revolver and held it in both of his hands.

Without warning, he charged at Sora, causing the boy to barely jump out of the way of a strong swing. Sam and Dan backed up in fright. Thankfully, the man chased Sora down to the courtyard, leaving the siblings alone above.

"This is not good," Dan said, crouching behind the railing. It looked like Sora wasn't new to sword fighting, but his challenger barely left any openings to attack, constantly swinging his sword when near or shooting a fireball out of the gun-part when Sora moved too far away.

"Yeah, but Sora has a – um, that Keyblade thing. That should mean he's a good fighter, right?" Sam looked on from behind the railing as well. Unfortunately, it didn't look good for Sora.

"It doesn't matter, if he's fighting Squall." Dan muttered.

"Who's 'Squall?' And for that matter, how did you know Cid's name?" Sam demanded.

Dan's head dropped down, giving him a better view of the cobblestone ground. After a bit, he replied, "They're videogame characters. They're from the Final Fantasy games, but they aren't even in the same game as each other."

Sam began to relax while listening to him, though she was still confused by the answer. Once he stopped, she cocked her head and stated, "That's weird."

"I just don't get why Squall is fighting Sora. He was the main character of his game, and a hero." Dan went back to watching the fight. Squall looked like he was getting tired, but Sora looked like he was about to fall over. "Why is he fighting a kid?"

"I guess he really want that key." Sam figured. "Wait, Sora isn't from a game, is he?"

Dan shook his head. "Not that I know of. I think I'd remember a game with him in it, unless he was just some random background character."

They continued to watch the fight for a bit more before Sam started to wonder why they weren't using this time to escape. Sure, Sora seemed like a nice guy, but she'd rather care about her and Dan's lives first. She turned to tell him to move, but she stopped when she noticed him tense up. She looked back at the courtyard to see Sora had fallen over on to his back. He was out cold. She quickly tried to grab Dan and run, but Dan jumped over the railing, muttering, "This isn't right," and ran between Squall and Sora.

"Get out of the way, this doesn't concern you," Squall pointed his blade at Dan.

"But why did you attack him?" Dan raised his arms up, trying to block the man from getting past him.

"I have to take that Keyblade – "

"But why? It's just a weapon! Y – You're supposed to be a – he's just a kid!" He wasn't even sure what was causing this anger to erupt, but Dan was happy to have it over fear at the moment.

Squall seemed to be done trying to answer questions. "Move now or I'll make you."

Sam's body was completely tensed up watching the two's standoff. She let out a great sigh of relief when her brother spat out, "fine." He turned around and looked down at Sora's still form. Squall slowly walked up to them. Sam stood up and started to make her way to the stairs when Dan suddenly rushed over and grabbed the Keyblade form the boy's hand. He made a wide slash behind him, causing Squall to leap back to avoid the attack.

"Suit yourself," Squall grimaced, followed by launching a fireball at Dan. Dan ducked down to avoid the blast while running towards Squall. Mimicking Sora, Dan lashed out with three attacks while holding the Keyblade with both hands. There was definitely something he didn't like about the way he was holding the blade, but he had to put his mind back on Squall in order to back away from a wide swing.

"I can tell Sora tired you out a bunch," Dan quipped. Squall answered by jumping at him, swinging his sword down. Dan tried to block it, but the Keyblade was pushed out of the way and his chest took most of the attack. The pain surprisingly didn't feel that bad, but the shock of being struck by a sword remained on his mind. Blood started to pool around the wound, surprising Squall.

Dan touched the wound with his left hand, and then brought it up to his face to see the crimson left on his fingers. "I, ugh, think I need to finish his soon." He shakily pointed the Keyblade towards Squall with his right hand. Squall lowered his blade slightly, seeing how his opponent looked to be losing his energy, but Dan suddenly shot right at him, swinging rapidly at different angles, making it difficult to block them all. Squall soon found himself on one knee and keeping his sword held up in a position to stop himself from taking any more hits. Dan finally started to lose his steam, which gave Squall time to raise his blade and shoot a fireball point blank into Dan's face. Dan landed next to Sora's body, joining him in his forced slumber.

Squall stayed kneeling to rest for a second, but quickly stood up when he heard a fast set of footsteps approaching him. The steps quickly stopped when he turned his sword towards them. "Please, I don't want to fight!" Sam sputtered out.

"I hope you don't feel too upset that I don't believe you." Squall remained still, waiting for her to make a move.

"But Dan's going to lose too much blood if I don't do anything!" She pointed behind Squall, who reluctantly took a quick glance towards the boy he just fought. The crimson liquid was forming a puddle on the cobblestone pavement. He realized there were specs of it all over his arms and chest from when he was being attacked by the boy.

Sam quickly took this chance to rush over to Dan's side. The wound was decently deep and she realized there was nothing she could do in her state. "Just take the stupid weapon!" She shouted while pressing her hands on the wound. "But please, do you have anything to help with this wound? It's really bad! You're supposed to be a good guy, right?" She looked over to Squall, who sheathed his blade.

"Yuffie." A girl appeared behind Squall, as if he announced her presence. The mixture of browns, yellows and blues on her short-shorts, short top, scarf, removable sleeves, and headband confused Sam on whether she wanted to be sneaky or obvious to find.

Yuffie scrounged around in her pockets before saying, "Looks like I have some potions. For the right price, I guess I coul – hey!" Squall snatched a bottle from her and held it out to Samantha.

Sam looked at the bottle, down to her bloody hands still pushing on Dan's chest, then back to the bottle. "Right, sorry." Squall poured the content of the bottle into Daniel's mouth. Instantly, the wound on his chest sealed itself up, though the blood remained.

Sam lifted her hands up slowly, making sure the wound really was sealed. No more blood came out. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding in before grabbing the Keyblade from Dan's hand and standing up. "You idiot! You almost killed him!" She shouted at Squall.

"He was the one that started the fight," Squall tried to answer calmly, but there was a sense of confusion and worry in his voice.

"Whatever; just take this stupid thing and go." The Keyblade was thrusted forward, right in front of Squall, where he could safely grab it. He tried to protest, but Samantha cut him off. "My brother says you're a hero. You didn't let him die, so I'm trusting that he's right. You better've had a good reason for all of this."

"I'm no hero," Squall said while taking the Keyblade, "but thank you. The Heartless are drawn to the Keyblade. Keeping it away from wielders will lower their activity."

"They can sense the weapon?" Samantha turned to Sora's and Dan's unconscious bodies. "What kind of creatures are they?"

"We can tell you if you come with us!" Yuffie piped up. "I mean, I guess it's the least we can do after beating up your brother. He could definitely use a bath. "She pinched her nose while finishing talking.

As much as Sam wanted nothing more to do with these people, Yuffie had a point. And if those Heartless appeared, she wouldn't be sure what to do. "Okay, fine."


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, getting used to waking up in pain doesn't make the pain any less sore. Daniel groaned as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position. Sharp pains that felt like several tiny icicles being pierced into his chest caused him to fail and fall back onto a questionably cushioned surface. After opening his eyes, he discovered a bed was placed under him - wait, no, he must have been taken to the bed.

"Here, drink this." A girl in scantily clad clothing came out of nowhere and shoved a bottle into Dan's face. Despite the pain, Dan bolted out of the way, but ended up on top of another person.

"Hello to you, too," Sora murmured as Dan got off of him and sat against the wall, back on his own side of the bed. "I heard you tried to help me. Thanks for that, I guess." Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Dan furrowed his brows at that. "What? But where are we?" Another sharp pain caused him to hug his arms around his chest.

"You should really drink this now," the girl once again held the bottle in front of Dan. "I could just keep it for myself or sell it, you know."

"Yuffie," Squall chided from across the room. He was leaning against a door; the only escape route? No, there were two other doors. As long as they didn't lead to a bathroom and a closet, Dan should be fine. Yuffie pouted as she dropped the bottle onto Dan's lap and called Squall a party pooper.

"Hey, how come I didn't get a potion?" Sora complained. This only made Dan more confused by the bottle, although less cautious of it. He picked it up and examined the clear liquid inside of it.

"You didn't take nearly as many hits to knock you out, that's why," Yuffie stuck her tongue out as Sora. "But if you really want one, I guess I could lose one for, say, fifty munhy?"

"What, that's a ridiculous price!" Sora whined. "I've never paid more than thirty munny for one!" Daniel was somewhat amused by the name of the currency they used, but still was unsure of what to do with the potion in his hand. It didn't seem to be the kind of magical potion he would think of. Surprisingly, Sora noticed his hesitations. "So are you going to drink it?"

"Um, y-yes?" Dan stuttered out. Sora decided to have the patience to watch, so Dan opened up the bottle and took a swig. Before he could even think about the lack of a taste, he felt the pain in his chest fade away greatly. He downed the rest of the liquid and felt satisfied by a complete lack of pain. He looked up to notice everyone was still staring at him.

"Uh, thanks," Dan mumbled. Then, trying to regain his voice, he asked, "but where are we? I thought you just wanted that key."

Sora wagged his finger at Dan. "They already told me everything. They took the Keyblade from me to stop the Heartless from tracking me."

Dan raised an eyebrow at him. "That's 'everything?'"

"Well there was other stuff, too!" Sora crossed his arms. "The Heartless attack people to get their hearts, and that can make even more Heartless!" Sora looked down at the floor, a bit shaken, "I actually saw it happen to someone right before meeting you."

"What? That's awful; things like that exist?" Dan looked around at everyone, but they stayed quiet. "Wait, where's my sister?"

"She's fine," Squall answered. "She went to get the two of you new clothes. Your's were no longer wearable after…" He trailed off, not wanting to mention the incident.

"You were a pretty big mess, you know," Yuffie added. 'It took a lot of work to clean you up."

Dan looked at himself, initially unsure of what she meant, before finally realizing his clothes were switched out for a white, cotton shirt and leather pants. "But what - who…" The devilish grin on Yuffie's face answered his questions.

Yuffie and Sora burst into laughter after seeing Dan's face go bright red. "Nice, you match ZSora's outfit now," Yuffie sniggered.

Squall decided to finally step away from the door. "Sora, there are some people I'd like for you to meet. Dan, I'll finished explaining things to you once your sister comes back. There are a few questions I have for you as well. Aerith should be ready, though." Dan was both confused by Squall having questions for him and yet another Final Fantasy character being involved, but decided to go with the flow. As Squall reached for the door, Yuffie shrieked as a medium-sized creature that looked like it was wearing a helmet, like what a suit of armor has, popped into the middle of the room. Leon quickly grabbed his sword and slashed at the creature, causing it to smash through the window behind Dan and Sora. "Come on!" Squall shouted as he opened the door next to them and rushed outside.

Sora instantly got up, but Dan stayed sitting, still shocked at what he saw. "Hurry up, Dan!" Sora beckoned.

"Was that a-" Dan started.

"We need to go, there will be more!" Dan continued to stay still. "Y-your sister, Sam; we need to find her!" Dan shot up at hearing this.

"Right." They ran through the open door and met with Squall in the alleyway below the balcony to their room. He slashed at a few of the Heartless to make a path for them.

"Here." He held out a sword to Dan, who hesitantly took it. "Don't bother with the small fry. Find the leader! Let's go!" He then ran off down the alley.

"Where did he get this from?" Dan glanced at the sword he was given. It looked to be short enough to be held by just one hand and thankfully was light enough as well. He really didn't know much about swords.

Sora ran off the other direction and Dan quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind. Doing as Squall said, they mostly avoided the Heartless they ran across. It would have been suicidal to try to fight all of them. Eventually, they went through a pair of doors labeled "3rd District."

The new district consisted of a square with some level and elevated paths connecting to its corners. Sora and Dan ran down the steps to the square, but stopped near the middle when they heard a loud noise behind them. They looked up in time to see two bodies falling right towards them.

Sora continued running forward to avoid them while Dan dodged to the side. The crash of body hitting body indicated that Sora didn't get out of the way in time. Dan looked over to see a large, humanoid duck and dog in clothing laying on top of Sora. They both seemed dazed, but the sight of Sora's weapon got them out of their stupor as they exclaimed, "the key!"

The ground started to violently shake before proper introductions could take place. Pillars similarly designed to the tile pattern of the floor erupted from the ground, blocking them in the square. The three collapsed figures quickly jumped to their feet as more of the armored Heartless appeared around them. "I hope the two of you can fight," Dan said as he readied his sword.

The duck readily accepted the challenge as he shouted, "fire," with his raspy voice. A ball of fire sprouted form the stave in his hand and shot towards one of the Heartless, exploding it into nothingness. Daniel only took a second to express shock before running in with the others. The dog used a small, circular shield to ram himself into the Heartless while Sora did his usual three-hit combos. Dan tested out a few swings of his sword using only his right hand before deciding quick, vertical swings or stabs seemed to work best for him.

Soon enough, all of the Heartless were taken out. As the four started to group back pu, though, large armor pieces in the shape of body parts fell from the sky. They floated together to form a full body, with a helmet falling directly onto the chest piece to finalize itself. "You've got to be kidding me," the duck said, exasperated.

"We can take it!" Sora shouted, albeit not quite as confidently as he was hoping to sound. Dan, on the other hand, was trying very hard to stop his legs from shaking.

"I - I don't think-" Daniel was interrupted by the dog charging towards the giant Heartless, shouting a war cry that befit how goofy he looked. Sora and the duck followed right after the dog. They all started to whack and slice away at the separate body parts while the Heartless slowly walked forward, each step making a loud, metallic clank as the feet hit the ground.

The Heartless stopped after finally noticing it was being attacked. Its body wouldn't even flinch from the blows! The clawed gauntlets started to circle around the Heartless' body until they turned into a blue blur. Sora nd the duck were sent flying by the quick force, but the dog somehow managed to deflect the gloves with his shield, causing them to fly off and land on the pavement right in front of Dan, stunned.

"Dan, attack them!" Sora shouted.

Daniel started at the gauntlets, glanced over at Sora, then brought his gaze back to the gauntlets. The sword was starting to feel a lot heavier in his hand. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He tried again and was able to whisper, "alright." A lunge brought Dan right to the gauntlets, allowing him to slash and stab at them several times before they were able to regain composure and rise back up into the air.

As they were about to get back to full height, a fireball impacted on them and they disintegrated. The duck jumped up in joy and raspily shouted, "that's how it's done!"

"They can be destroyed." A new found hope pushed away Dan's fears, but his limbs seemed to only want to jitter even more. The others were able to take this time to continue attacking the armor. Sora jumped up to deal some hits to the torso while the dog slammed his shield into one of the feet. The duck shot another ball of fire at the same foot, buit it remained standing. It seemed to be more resilient than the gauntlets.

Dan decided to help out with the feet, but all of the armor suddenly lifted up into the air and started to spin around quickly. With a mighty crash, the armor pieces slammed into the ground knocking everyone flat. The dog with the shield helped Dan back up to his feet. "Gwarsh, this fella looks to have two left feet, huh."

Daniel couldn't tell if the dog was talking about the armor or him, but thankfully Sora was able to deal the last needed damage to take out both of the armor's feet. "Just, uh, one left?" Dan stammered as they all looked up at the floating body. It took no time for it to change tactics as it started to spin around like a top. Everyone braced themselves around the armor waiting to see what would happen.

The armor did not disappoint as it quickly lashed out and swiftly moved around the plaza, slamming and bnouncing away from any wall it hit. Sora dived out of the way as the armor passed him by. The duck and Dan followed suite, but the dog stood his ground, shield held out defensively.

The armor rammed itself into the dog with a mighty force, causing Daniel to flinch, but the dog somehow held his ground. The shield had sparks flying off of it as the armor continued to rapidly spin itself into it. Dan couldn't believe his eyes when it looked like the armor's rotation started to slow. The dog kept up his defense as the armor spun slower and slower, but right as it came to a full stop, some kind of shockwave warped out of the armor and sent the dog flying.

The duck ran over to the dog with one of those potion bottles in hand. Dan's grip on his sword tightened as he watched the armor sway slightly as if it was dizzy. "Sora, now!" Sora nodded then jumped in to attack the armor with Dan. Their flurries of attacks etched around the chest and back of the bell-shaped metal, trying to deal as much damage as they could before the armor continued to attack.

The helmet floating above the body piece finally focused on the two boys attacking it and the armor began to charge up its rotation again. "Not again!" Sora cried out as they continued their assault. The armor's spinning went faster and faster and, as it was getting set to launch, the duck and dog joined in on the attack.

With the four of them combined, the armor violently started shaking and quickly spun to a stop. It then slowly started floating upward, but the helmet rolled out of its levitated position and fell onto the torso below. With a bright, blue flash, the armor disintegrated as a large heart=shaped light floated up into the sky. Daniel watched in awe as the blue heart spirated up and then disappeared.

All at once, the four of them slumped to the ground in exhaustion. "I - I didn't know," Sora took a deep breath, "they can get that big!" The others continued to pant in silence.

The night sky and the cool, tiled floor felt heavenly to Dan as he tried to calm his body. The day had just continued to get crazier and crazier for him. Never would Dan have thought that he would be finding himself in a mysterious town full of game characters and monsters. Just the day before, he had been… A frown appeared on his face. The only thing he could remember was the feeling of falling. _When_ exactly was the "day before?" Where was he before-

"Dan!" Several loud footsteps rapidly made their way to the group. Daniel was pushed further to the ground by Sam as she rammed into him. "You're okay!" She hugged him tightly for a few seconds, then, still clasping his upper arms, began to examine him. "Do you have any cuts, bruises, a headache? Do you feel any kind of burning sensation?"

"No, just embarrassment," Dan pulled his sister and himself up to their feet; his cheeks burning red. Squall and Yuffie stood before them. Yuffie was beaming a smile while Squall scowled as usual. Though there was a slight difference in his eyes. They looked more relaxed.

"So, you were looking for me?" Sora looked at the duck and dog. The three of them were also up now. The two newcomers nodded.

Leon crossed his arms. "They too have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade." Yuffie affirmed this statement with a nod.

"Why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel," the dog joyfully chatted. This took Daniel by surprise. Sora literally just met them and now they're asking for him to join them in off-world travel? What's next, Yuffie pulling out a ring and proposing to Dan?

No wedding proposal came from Yuffie, but Leon proposed, "Sora, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."

"Yeah, I guess," Sora halfheartedly muttered.

The duck wasn't taking any of that though. "But you can't come along looking like that, understand?" He wagged a feathery finger toward Sora. "No frowning. No sad face. Okay?"

"Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us!" the dog added, pushing himself in front of the duck.

"This boat runs on happy faces," the duck pushed the dog back, allowing both of them to be in the spotlight of the conversation.

Sora looked down at the ground. "Happy?" Everyone started at the boy. Squall and Yuffie looked on with a hint of amusement. The animal duo waited expectantly, holding rather goofy expressions as their example. Daniel had concern all over his face while Samantha - wait, she was staring over at a nearby fountain that had statues of two dogs - actual dogs, not like the one wearing clothes nearby - kissing.

Sora then quickly raised his head up so everyone could see his ridiculous face. His eyes were wide open and a large smile bordering on looking painful left Daniel dumbfounded. Sora lost his composure, becoming embarrassed by the silence, but then the two animals burst out into laughter. Dan couldn't help but chuckle along with them. "Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys." Sora stepped up to the two.

They proceeded to stack their hands together, the duck calling himself "Donald Duck," the dog "Goofy," and Sora "Sora," of course.

Dan walked up to the other boy. "You sure about this?"

"It's the only way I can look for my friends. Besides, what is there to do here?" Dan couldn't really disagree with Sora there. The boy then grinned at Dan, an idea forming in his head. "Hey, why don't you come with us too?"

"What!?" Dan looked around. That came out of more than just his mouth. "We don't have enough room! We can't just add another person to the part," Donald quacked out.

"Two people," Sam corrected. "Where he goes, I go." Daniel nodded his head in agreement. He wasn't just going to abandon her.

Goofy looked questioningly at Donald. "I'm pretty sure our ship can hold five people." The duck slapped his own face in response.

"Maybe they should go with you." Dan wasn't sure if he was more surprised that Squall thought they should go with, or that it was a suggestion and not a definitive statement.

"The more the merrier, right?" Goofy grinned, still looking at his duck companion.

Donald gave a long, exasperated sigh before rasping out, "aw phooey."

"It's decided then!" Sora pumped his fist into the air.

"Wh - wait!" Through all this trouble, Daniel wasn't even sure if he _wanted_ to go on this possibly extremely dangerous adventure with people he just met. He guessed it wasn't like he'd be leaving anything behind but… "Sam, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Samantha held her chin with a hand while surveying the others. "Well, it might be dangerous hanging around a Keyblade if it draws, uh, monsters to us. What would we get by exploring other worlds?"

"I guess we could also look for our friends," Dan stated.

"Our… friends." Sam walked over to the fountain with the dog statues, her back to the others.

Dan began to scratch his nose. "Look, we can sta-"

"'Okay, why not? We'll go with you guys.'" Sam turned around with a smile. The duck signed again, probably having hoped they would stay.

"Did she just copy me?" Sora questioned.

"Oh, right," Daniel put on a smile himself. "I guess you guys did say this boat runs on happy faces."

"Ahyuck, that's right!" Goofy put his hand back out. The other four placed their hands in a stack above his, with Daniel and Samantha saying their names. "All for one and one for all," Goofy concluded.


End file.
